Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $56.76, but opened at $59.04. Affirm shares last traded at $57.10, with a volume of 1,417,063 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFRM shares. William Blair began coverage on Affirm in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wedbush upgraded shares of Affirm from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $45.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Affirm from $56.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Affirm from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Affirm from $57.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Affirm currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Affirm Stock Down 1.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a PE ratio of -39.25 and a beta of 3.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 12.60 and a current ratio of 12.60.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.05. Affirm had a negative net margin of 17.67% and a negative return on equity of 12.57%. The business had revenue of $698.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.57) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Affirm Holdings, Inc. will post -0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Affirm

In other Affirm news, insider Katherine Adkins sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.05, for a total value of $11,010,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 93,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,149,652.25. The trade was a 68.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert O’hare sold 6,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.28, for a total transaction of $407,373.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,963 shares in the company, valued at $184,535.64. This represents a 68.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,323,478 shares of company stock valued at $86,285,371 in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AFRM. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Affirm by 2,305.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 195,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,466,000 after acquiring an additional 187,790 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Affirm in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,419,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Affirm in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $391,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Affirm in the third quarter worth about $731,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Affirm during the 3rd quarter valued at about $464,000. Institutional investors own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

Affirm Company Profile

Affirm Holdings, Inc operates a platform for digital and mobile-first commerce in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company's platform includes point-of-sale payment solution for consumers, merchant commerce solutions, and a consumer-focused app. Its commerce platform, agreements with originating banks, and capital markets partners enables consumers to pay for a purchase over time with terms ranging up to 60 months.